Wedding Maps

Together with your invitations, you should include maps and direction cards which will make it easier for the guests to find your ceremony/reception location. Nothing is worse than having your guests lost on their way to the wedding or reception. If you are ordering your invitations from a vendor, you can order the maps at the same time to match the invitations.

Or, you can make the maps and direction cards yourself. Some suggestions are:

• Decide on one or two central locations from which to start the directions (such as airport, one of the main highways, or from a central attraction well known to your guests).
• Try to include maps and direction cards (you can have a map on one side and directions on the other). If you have to pick between the two, direction cards are often the better choice because they appear a little more classy and are often more useful than maps. You can use Google or Yahoo maps to determine the directions, then print them using the font and the paper to match the rest of your stationery.
• Include the phone number for the ceremony/reception location or for someone in the family with a cell phone just in case if the guests get lost and need to call someone for guidance.
• Google "wedding maps" and shop around to find the best deal. For example, if you want 100 printed maps with directions and 2 locations (one for ceremony and one for reception), it will cost you $80.00 at Mainstreamaps.com, or $149.00 at Idoweddingmaps.com, or $223 at Weddingmaps.com. If you want to get the PDF file and print the maps yourself, it will cost you $89 at Idoweddingmaps.com or $100-$110 at Mainstreamaps.com.
• You can also purchase the print-ready PDF map file and print it yourself. For example, Design & Illustration by Alex offers PDF files of the wedding map for $25 (with single location) and $35 (with 2 locations). The file also includes driving directions or parking info on the back if desired. Not a bad deal.
  

Or, you can create your own maps for free (well, not totally free – since you still have to pay for the paper and ink). Check out this post how to make maps using Yahoo maps. Or, click here on detailed instructions on how create beautiful wedding maps. Maximum time spent 6 hours. Now you just have to decide whether it is worth to pay someone $80-$223 (or more) to print your maps, or whether you want to spend 6 hours to make your own…